The present invention relates to a semiconductor device producing method capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by a processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor work, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, a system for carrying out the same semiconductor device producing method, and a processing apparatus included in the same system.
Semiconductor device producing methods and systems for carrying out the same methods are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 5-218163 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,459), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 4-56245 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,191), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 4-152545 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,434), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 3-285339 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,191), Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 3-44054 (corresponding to U.S. Application Ser. No. 07/908550), and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 6-258239.
In these prior art techniques, however, careful consideration is not given to the reduction of dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers or TFT substrates, or semiconductor works on a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatuses for forming films on semiconductor substrates, etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, to produce semiconductor devices at a high yield rate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device producing method capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, and a system for carrying out the same semiconductor device producing method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus or a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, capable of processing semiconductor works at a high yield rate by reducing dust particles adhering to semiconductor substrates or semiconductor works, and a system including the same processing apparatus.
With the fore going object in view, the present invention provides a semiconductor device producing method comprising: measuring the condition of adhesion of dust particles (foreign particles) adhering to a semiconductor work by a dust particle detecting apparatus incorporated into a processing apparatus before the semiconductor work is processed by the processing apparatus; measuring the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the semiconductor work by the dust particle detecting apparatus after the semiconductor work has been processed by the processing apparatus; and processing the semiconductor work to produce a semiconductor device by the processing apparatus while managing a changing condition of adhesion of dust particles by comparing the condition of adhesion of dust particles before the semiconductor work is processed and the condition of adhesion of dust particles after the semiconductor work has been processed, by managing unit.
The present invention provides a semiconductor device producing method which gives an alarm when the generating state of dust particles is abnormally so that the processing apparatus can be delayed the time for cleaning or can be extended a cleaning cycle.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, the delivery of the semiconductor work to the next process is controlled on the basis of the number of dust particles adhering to the semiconductor work by the processing apparatus.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method comprises generating an alarm when measured number of dust particles on wafers of a lot in process or wafers tends to increase with time, or the measured number of dust particles is changed with time to abnormally large.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method comprises:
registering a database specifying the relation between a dust particle distribution map showing distributions of dust particles adhering to semiconductor works obtained by analyzing known semiconductor works and causes of adhesion of the dust particles to the semiconductor works; comparing measured data of an abnormal semiconductor work with known data, and specifying a mode of occurrence of faults when the measured data of the abnormal semiconductor work is similar to the known data to curtail time between finding of abnormality and taking measures to cope with the abnormality.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, a method of cleaning the processing apparatus (overall cleaning or part cleaning) is specified.
According to the present invention, in the aforesaid semiconductor device producing method, an instruction is given for further detection.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method uses an interface common to a plurality of various apparatuses or simple stages, mounts the interface on desired one of the plurality of various apparatuses to use a single detection head in combination with the plurality of various apparatuses or an individual detecting apparatus.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method checks the condition of adhesion of dust particles to a semiconductor work and detects a specific dust particle appearance mode.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing system has composite functions including a film thickness measuring function and an ID read function.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map showing distribution) of dust particles adhering to a work before and after processing, by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, and process the work by the processing apparatus while managing the condition of adhesion of dust particles being obtained by comparing the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before processing and that after processing, by a managing unit (CPU).
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map) of adhesion of dust particles to a work (semiconductor substrate) before and after processing, by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, manage a generating condition for each lot or each wafer by a managing unit (CPU) when processing the work, in accordance with comparing the measured conditions of adhesion of dust particles to the work before and after processing, and process the works for production by using the processing apparatus while controlling the feed of works to the processing apparatus by the control unit on the basis of condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each wafer.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure at least the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map showing distributions of dust particles adhering to a work at least before or after processing or measures the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map shown distributions) of dust particles adhering to a work before and after processing, manage the condition of adhesion of dust particles resulting from processing for each lot or each wafer on the basis of at least the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before or after processing or on the basis of the result of comparison of the condition of adhesion of dust particles to the work before processing. and that after processing by a managing unit (CPU), control the time or cycle of cleaning the processing apparatus on the basis of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work, and process the work by the controlled processing apparatus for production.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work for each lot or each work, give an alarm when the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit, and stop processing each lot or each work.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure at least the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map) of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work before or after processing or measure the condition of adhesion of dust particle adhering to a wafer before and after processing, manage the number of dust particles adhered to the work during processing for each lot or each wafer by a managing unit (CPU) on the basis of at least the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles to the work before or after processing or the result of comparison of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing, stop processing each lot or each work when the managed condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit, control the processing by a control means, and processes the work by the controlled processing.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method registers a database specifying the known relation between each of dust particle distribution maps and each of causes of adhesion of the dust particles corresponding to each fault modes on a processing apparatus, the known relation being obtained by analyzing past accumulated data, compares dust particle distribution data measured by a dust particle detecting apparatus with said known relation data, and specifies a mode of occurrence of fault by searching a dust particle distribution map being similar to the measured data.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and.a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method register a database specifying the known relation between each of adhering dust particle distribution maps and each of causes of adhesion of the dust particles corresponding to each fault cleaning modes on a processing apparatus, the known relation being obtained by analyzing past accumulated data, compares dust particle distribution data measured by a dust particle detecting apparatus with said known relation data, and specify a method cleaning for the processing apparatus by searching a dust particle distribution map being similar to the measured data.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method register a database specifying the known relation between each of dust particle distribution maps and each of causes of adhesion of the dust particles corresponding to each fault modes on a processing apparatus, the known relation being obtained by analyzing past accumulated data, compares dust particle distribution data measured by a dust particle detecting apparatus with said known relation data, and give an instruction for further detecting dust particle distribution corresponding to fault mode by the dust particle detecting apparatus for the processing apparatus.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work at least before or after processing, or before and after processing by a dust particle detecting apparatus, manage the condition of incremental adhesion of dust particles to the work resulting from processing for each lot or each wafer on the basis of the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work at least before or after processing, or on the basis of the result of comparison of condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing by a managing means, estimate causes of faults when the managed condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit from the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work on the basis of registered database specifying the relation between a dust particle distribution map for the work and causes of faults, and control processing by a control means to eliminate the causes of faults.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map) at least before or after processing, or the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing, manage the condition of incremental adhesion of dust particles to the work resulting from processing on the basis of at least the measured condition of adhering dust particles before or after processing, or the result of comparison of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing for each lot or each wafer by a managing means, estimate causes of faults when the managed condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit from the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work on the basis of registered database specifying the relation between a dust particle distribution map for the work and causes of faults, and control processing by a control means to eliminate the causes of faults, and process the work under controlled processing conditions for production.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition (the number of adhering dust particles or a dust particle distribution map) of dust particles adhering to a work or the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work before and after processing by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, manage the condition of incremental adhesion of dust particles to the work resulting from processing on the basis of the measured condition of adhering dust particles, or the result of comparison of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing for each lot or each wafer by a managing means, estimate cleaning conditions from the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work on the basis of a database showing the relation between the previously registered dust particle distribution map and cleaning conditions when the managed condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit, clean the processing apparatus according to the cleaning conditions by a cleaning means, process the work by the cleaned processing apparatus for production.
According to the present invention, a semiconductor device producing method and a system for carrying out the semiconductor device producing method measure the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work or the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to a work before and after processing by a dust particle detecting apparatus included in a processing apparatus, manage the condition of incremental adhesion of dust particles to the work resulting from processing on the basis of the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles to the work or the result of comparison of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work before and after processing by a managing means for each lot or each wafer, specify the processing apparatus from the measured condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work on the basis of a database showing the relation between a registered dust particle distribution map and the processing apparatus when the managed condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for each lot or each work increases with time or is an abnormal condition beyond a control limit, clean the specified processing apparatus by a cleaning means, and processes the work the cleaned processing apparatus for production.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus comprising a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism to detect dust particles adhering to the work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated with the light beam by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; and a signal processing means for processing signals provided by the photoelectric converting means of the detecting head to extract signals representing the dust particles.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus that detects dust particles adhering to a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus that detects dust particles adhering to a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism through a transparent window formed in the top cover of the transfer chamber.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus for detecting dust particles adhering to a work to be processed in a processing chamber, disposed in a buffer chamber.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus for detecting dust particles adhering to a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber or the buffer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism, and has a managing means for managing the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work in the processing apparatus detected by the dust particle detecting apparatus for each lot or each wafer.
According to the present invention, in the foregoing processing apparatus, the dust particle detecting apparatus comprises a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism to detect dust particles adhering to the work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated with the light beam by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; and a signal processing means for processing signals provided by the photoelectric converting means of the detecting head to extract signals representing the dust particles.
According to the present invention, in the foregoing processing apparatus, the dust particle detecting apparatus comprises a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; a signal processing means for processing signals provided by the photoelectric converting means to extract signals representing the dust particles; and a rotational position detecting optical system for detecting the rotational position of the orientation flat of the work or the direction in which chips are arranged.
According to the present invention, in the foregoing processing apparatus, the dust particle detecting apparatus comprises a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; a rotational position detecting optical system for detecting the rotational position of the orientation flat of the work or the direction in which chips are arranged; and a processing means that corrects the rotational position of coordinates on the work on the basis of the rotational position of the orientation flat of the work or the direction in which chips are arranged detected by the rotational position detecting optical system, comparing the chips by using signals provided by the photoelectric converting means to extract signals representing the dust particles.
According to the present invention, in the foregoing processing apparatus, the dust particle detecting apparatus comprises a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; a processing means for extracting signals representing the dust particles by processing signals provided by the photoelectric converting means; a rotational position detecting optical system for optically detecting the rotational position of the orientation flat of the work or the direction in which chips are arranged; an inclination detecting optical system for detecting the inclination of the surface of the work; and an inclination control mechanism for controlling the inclination of the detecting head to the work according to the inclination of the work detected by the inclination detecting optical system.
According to the present invention, in the foregoing processing apparatus, the dust particle detecting apparatus comprises a detecting head having a plurality of sets each of an illuminating optical system that illuminates the surface of a work with a light beam projected so as to fall obliquely on the surface of the work, and a detecting optical system that receives scattered light scattered by dust particles on the work illuminated by the illuminating optical system by a photoelectric converting means to detect the dust particles; a processing means for processing signals provided by the photoelectric converting means to extract signals representing the dust particles; a rotational position detecting optical system for detecting the rotational position of the orientation flat of the work or the direction in which chips are arranged; a height detecting optical system for detecting the height of the surface of the work; and a height control mechanism for controlling the height of the detecting head relative to the work according to the height of the work detected by the height detecting optical system.
According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided with a dust particle detecting apparatus that detects dust particles adhering to a work being conveyed through the transfer chamber or the buffer chamber of the processing apparatus by a handling mechanism; and a managing means for managing the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work in the processing apparatus detected by the dust particle detecting apparatus for each lot or each wafer, and controlling the time or the cycle to stop the processing operation of the processing apparatus or to clean the processing apparatus on the basis of the condition of adhesion of dust particles adhering to the work for the controlled lot or wafer.
As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to the present invention, abnormal adhesion of dust particles to a semiconductor substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a TFT substrate, in a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus and a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, and semiconductor devices can be produced at a high yield rate.
According to the present invention, an alarm or the like is provided for feedback control when an abnormal adhesion of dust particles to a semiconductor substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer or a TFT substrate, occurs in a processing apparatus, such as a sputtering apparatus and a CVD apparatus for forming films on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and TFT substrates, an etching apparatus for patterning films, a resist coat forming apparatus, an exposure apparatus or a cleaning apparatus, the processing apparatus is cleaned entirely or partially when such a feedback signal is given, and the process conditions, such as conditions for gases, conditions for evacuation, temperature condition and voltage to be applied, to reduce an abnormal adhesion of dust particles to the wafer so that semiconductor devices can be produced at a high yield rate.